The present invention relates to printers, and in particular, to a method and apparatus utilizing compliant structure for adjusting and fixing default printhead-to-media spacing in a printer.
In inkjet printers, carriages which carry printheads, and the support structures for such carriages, are typically arranged during the manufacturing process to define for printheads a preset, operational, default printhead-to-media spacing. Such a spacing positions a supported printhead at a predetermined appropriate elevation above a path along which print media moves through a printer. This elevation normally is set to accommodate the printing of single sheets of media typically having about a 20-lb. bond-weight thickness.
Whatever default spacing is specifically chosen, it is desirable that this spacing be easily established (adjusted and fixed) at the time of manufacture, and thereafter stable during shipment and normal use. Achieving such ease of setting, along with long-term stability and overall simplicity, have been focal points of attention in the prior art.
The present invention provides an apparatus for adjusting and fixing default printhead-to-media spacing in a printer having a frame and a printhead-carrying carriage. The apparatus includes an elongate, laterally extending carriage rod along which the carriage moves during printing, and selectively adjustable and fixable compliant structure mounting the rod on the frame, and operable to effect positional and fixable adjustment of the rod relative to the frame to establish a desired default printhead-to-media spacing.